Cornyn introduces Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2014

Rep. Steve Stockman is free to make claims about what he thinks that Senator John Cornyn is going to say as he hopes to move poll numbers during their Texas Seante primary race, but what Cornyn has actually proposed in the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2014 looks pretty darn nice.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2014, which would allow individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home state to exercise those rights in any other state that also has concealed carry laws. The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA), Graham (R-SC), Boozman (R-AR), Inhofe (R-OK), Crapo (R-ID), Burr (R-NC), Cochran (R-MS), Johanns (R-NE), Enzi (R-WY), Moran (R-KS), Roberts (R-KS), and Portman (R-OH).

“This bill strengthens two of our nation’s most fundamental rights, ensuring law-abiding gun owners can lawfully carry their weapons into like-minded states, while respecting the rights of states to adopt laws that are best-suited for the people of that state. This is an important affirmation of the Second Amendment and one that has been a top priority of law-abiding gun owners in Texas for some time. It is time to get this done.

The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2014 would treat state-issued concealed-carry permits like drivers’ licenses, allowing law-abiding citizens with concealed carry privileges to concealed-carry in any other states that also permit it by law.

Odds of this getting this through a Democrat-controlled Senate are iffy, but might stand a slightly better chance than they did last last year. Red state Democrats already being battered over their Obamacare votes don’t want to risk alienating a rapidly-growing shooting community during the mid-terms elections with a lame-duck President.

It’s good politics to sell the act with the comparison to driver’s licenses, which is a fair comparison that the American people can readily grasp and which anti-gun Democrats will have to work at to undermine.

With a little bit of luck and favorable political winds, the reciprocity bill might just clear the Senate this time.

Bob Owens is the Editor of BearingArms.com.
Bob is a graduate of roughly 400 hours of professional firearms training classes, including square range and force-on force work with handguns and carbines. He is a past volunteer instructor with Project Appleseed. He most recently received his Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Instructor certification from Centrifuge Training, and is the author of the short e-book, So You Want to Own a Gun.
He can be found on Twitter at bob_owens.
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